What if There is no Democratic Convention?
The first rumors started a few days ago. The DNC was going to cancel the convention so that the money could be used for the Obama campaign. Now the truth has come to light and it seems they do not have enough money to pay the bills for the convention.
The Democratic National Convention Committee is under the gun to raise $15,000,000 by Monday June 16th. They have missed deadlines all along and what will happen if they miss this one is anyone’s guess.
The convention will being millions upon millions of dollars to the city of Denver. Much more than the $15,000,000 short fall. Just think of all the people, the delegates, candidates, all of the their staff, the DNC staff, the Senators and Congressmen and their staff and families, the TV networks and all of their staff, all of them renting hotel rooms, going to restaurants, buying gifts and souvenirs. While the city itself may not see a lot of cash, the businesses in Denver will and with the state of the economy the way it is today, the businesses in Denver are counting on it. So with this in mind, should the city of Denver pick up part of the tab for the convention so that the economy gets a boost, or should they advance the money to the DNC, let them have the convention on the condition that it be repaid after the convention is over.
A convention is more than a party It is the time when the party gets its platform together, the nominee gets to set the tone for his or her campaign. Without the national exposure that the convention brings, the nominee will start out behind the eight ball- there will be no big send off, no big announcement of the vice presidential candidate and the party could every well end up more divided instead of more united. Not to mention how embarrassing it would be to be the first DNC to have to cancel a convention.
Now here is an idea. Barack Obama got about 15.000.000 in the popular vote. How about all of those who voted for Obama in the primaries each donating $1 so that their candidate can have his day in the lime light. And how about finding out why, when the Democrats are supposed to be gaining members, they cannot get enough money to get the convention off the ground. Something was not done right, that is evident. Now just who is the one who did not do what was supposed to be done at the time it was supposed to be done.
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Comment by Scotia on 17 June 2008:
You twit. It’s not the DNC but the City of Denver that can’t pony up their part of the cost. Any city hosting a convention like this will offer a certain amount of money to the convention. They get it back in sales and income and business taxes. Too bad Denver didn’t hit the mark.
The reasons are many and one of which would be the Obama/Clinton race that just ended. Let’s give Denver and Colorado some time to get the money together.
If you have the balls, look at the coffers of both parties and you will see that D’s have an advantage.
Cheers!
Comment by Eieio on 18 June 2008:
Too bad the unspoken “rules” about the Convention changed this year and left Denver, small donors and taxpayers holding the bag. Follow the money. The Denver host committee is an independent “non-partisan” 501(c)(3) organization. Donations to it are tax deductible. The Democratic National Committee and Democratic National Convention Committee are “political” (527) organizations. Contributions are not tax-deductible.
The DNC/DNCC have a contract with the Denver host committee that imposes fund-raising deadlines. In past years, when the committee fell short, the nominee’s campaign (and wealthy donors) made up the difference. This year, the campaign has “directed all inquiries” about the fund-raising shortfall back to the host committee while the campaign finance chair has told large donors not to give to independent organizations. Seems like a double bind to me.